Automatic train stop



June 30, 1925. 7 1,544,514

J. H. WRIGHT ET AL.

AUTOMATIC TRAIN STOP Filed e .1, 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 w [I UJI [2 .u.! INVENTOR; 3 d. H. LLIRIBHT E. H. GROVE 14 TTORNEYS;

Patented June 30, 1925;

UNITED STATES PA N oFHoE.

JOHN H. WRIGHT AND BRUCE H. GROVE, OF BYRON,- CALIFORNIA.

AUTOMATIC TRAIN s'ror;

Application filed February 21, 1924. Serial 110. 694,319.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, JOHN H. Vmor'rr and BRUCE H. GROVE, citizens of the United States, residing at Byron, in the county of Contra ost-a and State of California, have invented new and useful Impro ements in Automatic Train Stops, of which'the follow ing is a specification. I

This invention relates to improvements in automatic train stops.

The principal object of this invention is to devise means whereby a'train enteringa section which is occupied by another train will be automatically stopped. I

Other objects of this invention are to provide means whereby a simple arrangement of parts will accomplish the above object with accuracy and efliciency; to provide means whereby our system may be applied to the present-block system, or may be applied to tracks at the present not protected by any system, to provide means wherein the engineer will have to leave his cab after the automatic train stop has been thrown into operation in order to reset valve and get back into cab to release his brakes; and finally to provide a closed'circuit system whereby the absence offcu'rrent will cause the train entering an occupied s'ectionto be automatically stopped.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent during the course of the'following description. i

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of these specifications, and in which like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout the same,

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic illustration of the wiring of the track circuit, and Figure 2 discloses the brake operating mechanism as mounted upon a locomotive.

In the accompanying drawings wherein for the purpose of illustration is shown a preferred example of the same.

The numeral 5 designates a continuous rail, while the numerals 6, 7 .8, 9 and 11 refer to the rail sections parallel to the rail 5 and in alignment with one another, but insulated one from the other, thus forming.

blocks in the track system, which blocks are designated on the drawing as block A ,B

Above the drawing the words West and East appear in order to differentiate between the opposite ends of the track; on opposite sides of the tracks arepla'ced ramps those adjacent the continuous rail bearing the numbers 12, 13, 14c, 16 and 17, while the ramps adjacent the sectional rail are-deslgnated by the numerals 18, 19,21, 22 and 23 It is, of course, understood that these ramps are placed about one quarter of the length'of the block from the point of entrance, that is, the ramp for controlling eastbound trains would be positioned near the westbound end of the section, while the ramp to control west-bound trains would be placed near the east end of the section.

In the drawings, however, the ramps are shown substantially opposite each other merelyffor the purpose of making the drawings clearer. The numeral 24 refers to a track battery one end of which is connected to an armature 260i" a track relay adapted to be operated by a coil 27, which coil is connectedto the rail 5 as at 28, while the opposite endof the coil is connected to the track section 8, as at 29. Theop'posite side of the battery 24 is connected'to'the rail 5mm 31 and a connection is further carried to a control relay having a coil 32 and an armature 33, the armature 33 also being connected to the battery '24. p

The opposite side ofthe coil 32 is connected to a line Wire 341;. and a contact 36 is adapted to be contacted by the armatu're'33 and is. electricallyconnected as by a wire 37 to the ramp 12. l g

Proceeding now to the block B a similar control battery is shown at 38 to that shown at, 24. One side of this battery is connected to an armature 39 adapted to'be actuated by the coil 41 one side of which is connected to the rail 5% at42, while the opposite side is connected to the rail section 7 as at 43.

The,opposite side of the battery 37 is connected'a's at 44 to the rail 5 and to one end of the coil of a control relay 46. j The oppositesidevof this coil is connected to the line wire47.

An. armature 48 is also connected to the battery 38, while a contact 49 is electrically connected tothe ramp 19. Contacts 51 and 52 arepositioned so as to be contacted by the armatures 39 and 26, respectively which contacts are electrically connected to line wires 53 and 54rfrespectively.

Positioned between the blocks B and C are track batteries indicated at 56 and. 57

The track battery '56 has one end electrically connected tothe rail section? as shown at 58, while the opposite sideof this battery is connected to the rail 5 and also to a control relay having a coil 59 and an armature 61. The opposite side of this coil is connected to a line wire 62. The track battery 57 has one side electrically connected as at 63 to the rail section 8, while the opposite side is connected as at 64 to the rail 5 and also to a control relay having a coil 66, the opposite side of which coil is electrically connected to the line wire 54. This relay also has an armature 67 which is likewise connected to the battery 57.

A contact 68 is adapted to be contacted by the armature 67 which contact is electrically connected to the ramp 21. The armature 61 is also adaptedtocontact a contact 69 which is electrically connected to the ramp 13. The parts thus far described are duplicated throughout the track system and therefore the numerals corresponding to duplicate parts have been applied throughout the remainder of the drawing.

Referring now to Figure 2, the numeral 71 designates a portion of the frame of a locomotive which is naturally grounded as indicated at 7 2'. A block 73 is secured to the frame and serves to support 21 depending arm 74 having a contact 7 6 positioned there on. An. insulating block 77 serves to pivotally support an arm 78 having a hollow shoe 79 formed integral with its lower extremity. This shoe has a projection 81 carrying a contact 82 which contact is in alignment with the contact 76 and adapted to normally be in contact therewith. I a V The arm 78 is preferably hollow so as to conduct air from a pipe 83 to the interior of the shoe 79. This pipe 83. is connected to the air line 84 controlling the operationof the ordinary air brakes. The ramp with which the shoe is contacting in this figure has been given the numeral 14 which .corresponds to the ramp shown in block C of Figure 1.

Secured to the end ofthe air line pipe 84 is a casting 86 having apartition 87 provided with an orifice 88. A tubular portion 89 of the casting serves toposition a piston 91 which is secured to .a rod 92 having a needle valve 93 formed on the end thereof, which needle valve is capable of closing the orifice 88. A guide plate 94 serves toguide the rod 92 and also permits the positioning.

of a spring 96 upon the rod 92, which spring bears against the guide plate 94 and piston 91.

A cap 97 serves to close the end of the cast ing 86 and has positioned therein an adjusting screw 98. A by-pass 99-serves to connect the chamber 101 with the interior of the piston chamber at a point between the piston 91 and the cap 97, A discharge port 102 acts as an exhaust as will be hereinafter; explained. A por't 103 extends hr ugh the as ing 651 0 a chamber 104- This chamber is formed by a downwardly extending pipe 106 and a cross wall 107 having a port 108 formed therein. This port is adapted to be. closed by a needle valve 109 positioned upon an armature mounted within a solenoid 111.

A cap 112 serves to close the bottom of the downwardly extending pipe 106, which cap also supports an'actuating rod 113 having a ball 114 on the end thereof. An exhaust pipe 116 connects to the interior of the pipe 106 at a point below the division wall 107. One endof the solenoid. winding is grounded as shown at 117, while the oppo site end of the solenoid winding is connected to a battery 118, the oppositeside of which battery is connected to a switch 119. This switch is adapted to contact contacts 121 and The contact 121. is connected by a wire 123 to the pivotal point of the arm, 78. A wire 124 serves to connect with the pivotal point of a simila-rarm located. uponthe op.- posite side of the locomotive. It is, of course, understood that there are two of these arms and there are connecting shoes on the locomotive one located upon the right and the other upon the left of the locomotive and depending upon the direction of travel of the locomotive depends the position. of the switch 119 whether it be placed upon the. contacts 121 and 122.

Theoperation of our lows r 7 Under clear track conditions the track relay of section A is energized by the track battery at the opposite end of the section, closing the contact on the relay, thus completing a circuit from the control battery to a line wire from which the current passes in two directions, to and through the two blocks from and on either side of the block of the track relay being considered" The current after passing through the coils of device is as. folthe ramp control relays are energiz ng them continues by wire connection to the con-v tinuous running rail and thence back to'the opposite side of the battery.

With the ramp control relays thus energizedtheircontacts close an electrical connection between the ramp and the continuous running rail. On the locomotive the circuit from the battery. 18 passes through the switch 119 to the shoe which is insulated from the engineframe thence through the contacts 76 and 82, support 74, and to the frame of the locomotive, the grounded coil of the solenoid, th ence back to the battery. With this circuit thus completed the solenoid serves to hold its armature inthe up position and thus holds closed the needle valve 116, which may be termed asecondary needle valve, thus retaining air in the cylin-u der causing the piston 91 to forcethe needle a ve 93 aga ns its P t Seat his needle valve may be'termed' the primary air valve, the air, of course, entering the cylinder through the by-pass 99.

Now when. the shoe 78 passes upon a clear ramp, the shoe is lifted to open the contacts 76 and 82 which contacts are in the circuit with the solenoid 111.- This solenoid, however, is retained in its up position due to the fact that a circuit has been established around the open contacts 76 and 82, through the shoe, wire, to and through ramp control relay, wire, to continuous running ra1l, to and through ground on frame of locomotive, thus preventing a dropping of the solenoid or armature and the consequent application of the air brakes.

Under danger conditions when a train 00- cupies a block section, the current to the track relays is shunted audits armature contact is therefore open, which opens the circuit from the control battery tothe ramp control relays of the second block on each side of the occupied block. These relays, when thusly de-energized, open the electrical connection between the continuous running rail and the ramp rails of those blocks so that when the shoe of an opposing or following locomotive engages one of these ramps the contact on the shoe when opened by the lifting of the shoe results in the breaking of the circuit about the solenoid 111 which permits the spring which surrounds the needle valve 109 to function and force the auxiliary needle valve downward-- ly permitting the escape of the air in the cylinder to the atmosphere, which results in the functioning of the spring 96 thus opening the primary valve to permit the escape of air from the train air pipe through the primary valve and to the atmosphere through the port 102 resulting in the brakes being applied. It is impossible for the engineer to again close the secondary air valve after passing the ramp except by manually resetting the same which consists in pushing upwardly on the ball 114 thus lifting the armature and its primary valve into contact with its seat and by holding the same in that position until the by-passed air is sufiicient to force the piston 91 and the primary needle valve closed, thus preventing further brake action after which the engineer can release the brakes and proceed.

It is to be understood that the form of our invention herewith shown and described is to be taken as a preferred example of the same, and that various changes in the shape, size and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the subjoined claims.

Having thus described our invention, we claim 1. In an automatic train control system,

the combination with a continuous rail and a sectional rail, said sectional rail forming blocks in the system, a track relay electrically connected between a rail section and said contin'uous rail, a track battery electrically connected between said railsection. and said continuous'rail and located at the opposite end of said rail section, said bat-- tery being adapted to operate said relay, means for directing current in two directionsffromsaid relay, to and through two blocks on either side of said relay, control relays adapted to receive current from said last mentioned means, said control relays being connected to said continuous rail, a ramp positioned adjacent said control relays and parallel to said sectional'rail, said ramp being energized by said control relays. "2. In an automatic train controlsystem the combination with a continuous rail, a sectional rail parallel to the continuous rail, the sections of said second-mentioned rail forming block sections insulated one from the other, a track relay comprising 'a coil, an armature and a contact, one end of said coil being connected to the continuous rail, the opposite end of this coil being connected to one end of one of said rail sections, a control battery having one side connected to the armature of said track relay,the contact of said track relay being electrically connected to the coil of a control relay in distant blocks in opposite direction from the said track relay, a control relay comprising a 0011, an armature and a contact, said armature and said coil being electrically connected to said continuous rail and the opposite side of said control battery, the opposite side of said last. mentioned coil being electrically connected to the contact of the track relay in the third block of the system and to the coil of a second contact relay located adjacent the rear end of the fifth rail section, a ramp positioned parallel to said continuous rail, the contact of said control relay being electrically connected to said ramp, the contact of said track relay being electrically connected to the coils of the control relays located adjacent the second rail sections of either side of the rail section having the above mentioned track relays connected thereto.

3. In an automatic train control system the combination with a continuous rail, a sectional rail parallel to the continuous rail, the sections of said second mentioned rail forming block sections insulated one from the other, a track relay comprising a coil, an armature and a contact, one end of said 0011 being connected to the continuous rail, the opposite end of this coil being-connected to one end of one of said rail sections,

a control battery having one side connected to the armature of said track relay, the conconnected to the coil of a control relay in distant blocks in opposite direction from the said track relay, a control relay comprising a coil, an armature and a contact, said armature and said coil being electrically connected to said contin'uous rail and the opposite side of said control battery, the opposite side of said last mentioned coil being electrically connected to the contact of the track relay in the third block of the system and to the coil of a second contact relay located adjacent the near end of the fifth rail section, a ramp positioned parallel to said continuous rail, the contact of said control relay being electrically connected to said ramp, the contact of said track relay being electrically connected to the coils of the control relays located adjacent the second rail sectionson either side of the rail section having the above mentioned track relays connected thereto, a second track relay positioned adjacent said first mentioned track relay, said second track relay comprising a coil an armature and a contact, one

end of said coil being connected to said continuous rail, the opposite endof said coil being connected to the next adjacent rail section, a control battery connected to the armature of said second mentioned track relay, the opposite side of said battery being connected to said continnonsrail, a second control relay comprising a coil, an armature and a contact, one side of said coil being connected to said continuous runningrail and to said armature, the oppositeside of said coil being connected to the contact of a track relay located adjacent the far end of a track section in an opposite direction of said second mentioned-control relay bemg connected to aramp located'ad acent said second mentioned track section and upon the opposite side of the tracks from the first rnentioned ramp.

In testimony whereof e afiiX- our signafrom that previously considered, the contact- 

